Many life times ago there were people in the Kagga Kamma using the beautiful rocky landscape as a canvas. Onto these smooth walls they poured out their perceptions of every day life, a prayer to the spirit world, or presentations for teaching their young ones. Looking at these photographs leaves me curious; simultaneously connected to them through a stream of natural inspiration and, yet, left adrift in unknown meaning. Life and death is.
Marsh Harrier hunting at Abramskraal, West Coast National Park, photographed by Hannelie de Klerk on 29 October 2011. “Fly by” shots are much more difficult to capture than “take off” shots when it comes to bird photography. One very good tip I got from Albert Froneman is to make sure that the tracking speed on your camera’s auto focus is not set to maximum speed. When tracking a bird flying past the autofocus point may slip off the subject for a split second and once it locks onto the background it is very difficult to bring it back onto tracking the bird. If the autofocus is not set to super quick it is a lot more forgiving of sudden swerves from the bird or jerkiness in the photographer. What I love in this picture is the tiny detail of the shadows thrown onto the tail by the trailing claws.
Hannelie de Klerk 